How to Embed an Instagram Feed

One of the widely used tactics for marketers to reach out to their audience is through social media. Instagram is one such platform that helps bridge the gap between these two parties, and is growing its user base at a rapid rate.

Instagram serves marketing purposes even outside of it’s own app. As the platform develops, people enjoy looking through Instagram feeds on web browsers, and developers are starting to embed company Instagram feeds directly on the websites they’re working on. Adding an Instagram feed to a website can help customers understand the lifestyle applications of your brand, and improve your social media reach for those that didn’t necessarily know that a company has an Instagram account.

The Benefits of Adding an Instagram Feed to Your Website

Instagram photos allow you to expand your social media reach. It can help you to gain more followers, while increasing visibility and impact for your Instagram posts.

According to statistics, 5 percent of people on Instagram take action after being inspired by a post. This action might involve searching, shopping, visiting the website, or sending it to friends. Regardless of the action, a 5% conversion rate is better than most online marketing activities can return.

By driving traffic to a company’s social media platforms, you work to increase the brand’s overall social media influence, which then helps to build relationships and long-term customers. Embedding a business’s Instagram feed on your website is an enticing attraction, especially for your regular customers to update them on new products or services. From another perspective, it can act as a portfolio of sorts to direct prospects, giving visual examples of what you sell.

In general, an Instagram account can help a brand to build a stronger brand image and grow trust with their customer base, even more so than other platforms. The visual nature of Instagram encourages people to create user generated content for brands to feature and repost on their feed. The interactions that take place on Instagram can serve as feedback as well as a source of testimonials from customers.

If you’re still not convinced that investing in Instagram, and displaying an Instagram feed on your websites, think about how it can also help you to increase brand credibility and authenticity. Adding an Instagram feed (and other social media platform feeds) on your website will show that you have a consistent and strong social media business presence. Regardless of the follower count, it feels weird to come across a brand that cannot claim consistency on even one social network.

How to Add An Instagram Feed on Your Website

There are a number of different ways to add an Instagram feed on your website, but the most popular involve using plugins or embedding tools.

Take a look at some of the best options:

Instagram’s Official Embedding Tool

Adding an Instagram feed to your website can be as easy as using code directly from Instagram. Instagram’s developer tools allow you to embed both an Instagram feed and individual photos on your website. As far as using the most trusted tool, it doesn’t get much more reliable than this.

Embedding individual posts on a WordPress blog is fairly easy—it works like any other type of object embedding. Embedding a snapshot of a company’s feed is a bit more advanced, and is best attempted by an experienced developer. If you need some assistance, you can check out the full tutorial in Instagram’s developer tools area.

Free Social Feed for Instagram by Pixlee

Another easy way to add an Instagram feed on your website is by using this free tool offered by Pixlee. This one isn’t super technical, and can be implemented by anyone with a basic understanding of website content management. Just sign up, authenticate the Instagram account, get the code snippet, then paste it wherever it’s most relevant on your website. That’s it! This tool offers a real-time updated Instagram feed.

Instagram Feed by Smash Balloon

If you’re on WordPress, one of the easiest ways to add an Instagram feed to a website is to find a reliable plugin, activate it, and set it up according to your needs. This plugin by Smash Balloon has over 400,000 users on WordPress, with over 1,200 five star ratings. The standard version is offered for free, with additional features available when you upgrade to Pro with a number of different plans. Pro starts at $39 USD for a personal license, scaling up accordingly.

Add a single feed, or multiple feeds.

Completely customizable design.

Responsive and mobile-ready.

Uses a built-in shortcode option.

Includes an Instagram “follow” button. Visitors don’t need to go directly to the profile to follow.

Instush

Instush is Instagram feed embedding tool that offers many handy features. It is very easy to use—you need only to login and authenticate your Instagram, then choose the gallery you’d like to display on your website.

Choose up to 14 types of Instagram gallery design/templates that you can display on your website.

Create wallpaper that can be used on your website, in addition to Facebook and Twitter. You can pick which photos you want to include on your feed, with the downside that you can’t add redirect links to wallpapers.

Instagram Feed WD

This WordPress plugin is free to use, with over 80,000 active users. There is a pro version available, with plans that start at $20 for a personal license. This tool comes with a simple integration process, is responsive and has customizable feed styles. Overall, setup is very simple, and management is user-friendly, even for technophobes.

How To Add an Instagram Feed To Your Website

Adding an Instagram feed to your website is a great tactic for driving ecommerce transactions, creating conversions, and increasing a company’s brand presence. It can really be a game changer when it comes to reaching more of your target audience while building your online presence.

There are several free Instagram plugins that you can use on your WordPress site and other CMS including the plugins and tools listed above.

Maddy Osman creates engaging content with SEO best practices for marketing thought leaders and agencies that have their hands full with clients and projects. Learn more about her process and experience on her website, www.The-Blogsmith.com and read her latest articles on Twitter: @MaddyOsman.
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